Ski climber



Jun 10, 1958 N, M. MARSHALL 2,838,318

' SKI CLIMBER Filed Oct. 22, 1956 /0 ,4 Fig./

Norm an M. Marsha/l IN VEN TOR.

BY I My fim Unitd States Pat SKI CLIMBER Norman M. Marshall, Georgetown, Mass. Application October 22, 1956, Serial No. 617,499

1 Claim. (Cl. 280-4113) The present invention generally relates to an attachment for skis and more particularly to a device for attachment to a pair of skis to facilitate the climbing of hills by the person wearing the skis;

An object of the present invention is to provide a ski attachment which provides traction for the wearer of the skis to permit him to walk or climb up a hill in a somewhat normal manner with the skis in the operative position and also permits the skier to go down-hill in the usual manner without any detrimental effects from the ski attachment, with the attachment being so constructed that no manual operation is necessary for facilitating the climbing of a hill with the skis on.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide a ski attachment which is simple in construction, automatic in operation, well adapted for its intended purposes, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the ski with the attachment of the present invention installed thereon;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ski attachment and a portion of the ski taken on an enlarged scale substantially through the center of the ski attachment; 1

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the ski attachment; and I Figure 4 is a perspective view of the paddles and paddle shaft interconnecting the same.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generally designates the ski attachment of the present invention for attachment to the upper surface of a ski 12, with it being understood that an attachment is provided on each ski. The ski 12 includes the foot securing means generally designated by the numeral 14 for securing the shoe or ski boot to the ski 12.

The ski attachment 10 incorporates a relatively thin 1 metal base plate 16 permanently secured to the ski 12 by fasteners, such as screws 18. An' upstanding, threaded stud 20 is provided adjacent one end of the plate 16, and the other end of the plate is provided with an upstanding projection 22 having a surface 24 inclined towards the threaded stud 20. A mounting plate 26 is provided with a bifurcated end portion formed by furcations 28 bridging the projection 22, with the edge between the furcations 28 being inclined for engagement with the inclined surface 24. The other end of the mounting plate 26 is provided with an aperture 30 for positioning over the threaded stud 20 whereby a wing nut 32 may be employed for detachably and rigidly securing the mounting plate 26 on and against the upper surface of the base plate 16.

The mounting plate 26 is provided with a plurality of upwardly struck loops 34 pivotally receiving a transverse shaft 36 having a laterally extending paddle 38 on each end thereof. The rear end of each paddle 33 is provided with teeth 40 for biting into hard, crusty snow in a manner described hereinafter. The shaft 36 is also provided with a pair of projecting stop pins 42 and a spring retaining pin 44, all of which are disposed in Patented June 10, 1958 parallel relation and perpendicular to the paddles 38 for engagement with the upper surface of the mounting plate 26 when the paddles 38 are disposed in a vertical position. A spring device, such as the rubber band 46, is provided between an eye 48 on the upper end of the pin 44 and an upwardly struck lug 50 on the mounting plate 26, thus holding the paddles 38 in a position as illustrated in Figure 3.

The pins 42 are in the form of stop pins, while the pin 44 is in the form of a combination stop pin and spring retaining pin. The entire attachment, except the base plate 26, may be removed by removing the wing nut 32 and lifting the attachment therefrom.

When skiing down-hill, the force of the snow is directed against the front of the paddles 38 and rotates them and the shaft 36 so that the paddles assume a position substantially parallel to the bottom of the skis. The rotation of the shaft in this counterclockwise direction raises the stop pins 42 and 44 above the plate, and pin 44 stretches the spring device 46 so that as soon as forward motion ceases, the paddles 38 are urged to rotate clockwise until they assume a position vertical to the ski plane and stop pins are lying along the upper plate as illustrated in Figure 3. If the skis are pointed up a hill, the backward thrust of the skis anchors the paddles in the snow and the stop pins prevent complete rotation of paddle shaft 36 so that purchase or forward thrust is provided to permit the skier to walk one ski ahead of the other right on up the hill. The teeth 40 provide additional biting in of the paddles 38 on crusty snow.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A ski attachment comprising a base plate adapted to be mounted on the upper surface of a ski, a mounting. plate detachably connected to said base plate, a transverse shaft journaled on said mounting plate, a paddle on each end of said shaft and disposed alongside of a ski, spring means interconnecting the shaft and mounting plate for urging the paddles to a downwardly and operative vertical position for engagement with the snow below the plane of a ski, and stop means interconnecting the shaft and mounting plate for limiting the swinging movement of the paddle in one direction thereby preventing forward swinging movement thereof from an shaft for engagement against the upper surface of themounting plate, said spring means including a resilient member extending between the outer end of one of said stop pins and said mounting plate, said resilient member permitting the paddle to swing rearwardly to a position parallel to the ski when going down hill, said mounting plate being provided with a plurality of upwardly bowed loops thereon for supporting said shaft an upwardly extending projection on said base plate, said mounting plate being bifurcated at its rearward end, so that said mounting plate will surround said projection on three sides, and fastening means remote from the edges in the form of a threaded stud mounted on the base plate and extending upward through an opening in said mounting plate, said mounting plate being held in engagement with said base plate by a wing nut on said threaded stud, thereby rigidly and detachably securing the mounting plate to the base plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,207,132 Brennan Dec. 5, 1916 2,316,252 Karlsson Apr. 13, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 836,452 Germany Apr. 15, 1952 

